1. An essential part of any business is being able to track inventory and sales. In order for a business to be successful, the inventory control system must be accurate and effective. There are many different systems that are used in today’s society, but they all use barcode technology. Barcode technology is inexpensive and can be effective, but is time-consuming and tedious when using it for inventory control. Another drawback to the barcode system is the amount of information that can be stored is very limited. The new technology that is becoming available is radio frequency identification (RFID). The purpose of this project is to simulate an inventory control system using RFID technology that will show the benefits that it holds over the current system. This group will report on the advantages and disadvantages of RFID and show how it can be implemented in current businesses. Problem Statement Barcode technology is the leader in inventory control at the present time. However, there are many flaws in the technology that limit its effectiveness. The amount of data that can be stored in a barcode and the need for human intervention are two, of many, issues that can be negated using other technology. Proposed Approach The use of RFID can greatly enhance the effectiveness of inventory control. The team will research the possibilities of RFID technology and examine its benefits over the current barcode system. The team must spell out the issues that can be resolved with the use of RFID and simulate its improved effectiveness. Operating Environment Temperature range 0° to 50°C with little or no humidity Businesses Warehouses Intended Users Retail businesses Nonprofit organizations Individuals Assumptions Able to purchase an RFID kit Able to interface with RFID reader RFID tags will be programmable Software will be Windows compatible Jeff Benson CprE jeffers@iastate.edu Frederick Brown EE fbrown@iastate.edu Christopher Reed EE creed@iastate.edu Brian Wagner CprE wagnerb@iastate.edu Team Members Professor John Lamont jwlamont@iastate.edu Professor Ralph Patterson III repiii@iastate.edu Degang Chen djchen@iastate.edu Faculty AdvisorsClient Senior Design Program http://seniord.ee.iastate.edu/dec0509/ Design Objectives Must be easy to use and setup Must be low maintenance Must use some of the capabilities that RFID offers Functional Requirements Read inventory as it comes into and goes out of store Put inventory into database to keep track of purchases Determine who is purchasing the product Design Constraints Microsoft Windows compatible Cost effective design Real world application Milestones Project definition02/14/05 Technology considerations and selection03/07/05 End-product design05/04/05 End-product prototype implementation09/26/05 End-product testing10/05/05 End-product documentation10/31/05 End-product demonstration11/28/05 Project reporting11/28/05 Item W/O LaborWith Labor Other Required Resources Project Poster$65.00 RFID Kit$250.00 Binding$25.00 Labor ($10.50/ hour) Benson, Jeff$0.00$2,079.00 Brown, Frederick$0.00$2,100.00 Reed, Christopher$0.00$1,816.50 Wagner, Brian$0.00$1,858.50 Subtotal$0.00$7,854.00 Total$340.00$8,194.00 As barcode technology becomes more and more outdated, new forms of electronic identification such as RFID are becoming more advanced and cheaper to implement. In addition to research on this particular topic, the team will attempt to build an inventory system from the ground up using a newer form of identification. By the end of the project, the team hopes to have completed the design of a prototype consisting of software and conduct a demonstration using the appropriate hardware. End-Product Options Research – A research report is the most likely deliverable. It would not require any outside funding and would be the easiest to produce. The report would include a discussion of RFID technology, the benefits of this technology over the current barcode system, possible drawbacks to the technology, and a proposal of why inventory control systems should use RFID technology. Simulation – The simulation would be included with the report as a demonstration of how the technology would be used in a made-up example. It would include a company inventory system using RFID technology and show how the system can be linked to inventory software to collect all sorts of data from the chips. Demonstration – A demonstration would be the most expensive of the possible deliverables. If funding is available, a demonstration would include a working model of a sample RFID system that is linked to the team’s made-up company data. The team will show how a tag is scanned, the information that can be collected, and how that information can be linked to a database. Initial research will also be included. Project Schedule Gantt Chart Personnel Effort HoursFinancial Requirements Proposed Approach Research problem Research possible technologies Create design plan Implement prototype Test prototype Document prototype Demonstrate end-product prototype Technology Considerations RFID Barcode Windows based system Testing Considerations Testing will be dictated by end-product selection Figure 1 – RFID Inventory System RFID ReaderInventory Control System Benson, Jeff Wagner, Brian Reed, Christopher Brown, Frederick 197 193 198 200 Limitations Team’s lack of experience with RFID Must cost less than $250 Time available to learn RFID software Standards not yet established Introduction AbstractProject Requirements Approach and Considerations Resources and Requirements Closing Summary Dec05-09 Team Information RFID Tag Project Web Site Intended Uses Track inventory and sales Order supplies that are out of stock Obtain information on tagged product